Francisco Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm, has acquired Cross Match Technologies, a provider of interoperable biometric identity management systems, applications and services. “Cross Match has a long history of innovation and has secured significant contracts with the most discerning government clients,” says Keith Geeslin, a partner at Francisco Partners. “Biometric technology is growing in importance, and Cross Match, with its strong management team and quality brand, is in an excellent position to capitalise on this growth.” Founded in 1996, Cross Match’s offerings include a wide range of multimodal biometric solutions, which are used to capture and process the unique

RJD Partners, a UK-based middle market private equity investors, has backed the management buyout of Harrington Brooks, a provider of debt management solutions, from Inflexion Private Equity. The buyout is being led by chief executive Matthew Cheetham, who joined the business in 2007, and finance director Terry Sweeney, who was part of the original buy-in team in 2005, both of whom will increase their stakes in the business going forward.  Debt facilities have been provided by PNC Business Credit, an asset based lender and the company’s incumbent banker Harrington Brooks is based in Sale, Manchester and was founded in 1998

Francisco Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm, has completed the acquisition of Kewill, a trade and logistics software provider. This deal represents Francisco Partners’ sixth take-private transaction in Europe since the beginning of 2009. “We see a significant opportunity for Kewill as long-term growth and increasing complexity in the trade and transportation of goods drives the need for comprehensive software solutions,” says Deep Shah (pictured), a partner for Francisco Partners. “Kewill has a robust product portfolio and an impressive client list of 7,000 customers around the world, including some of the world’s leading multinational companies such as Bayer, Black &

Huron Capital has sold its interest in Labstat International ULC through its holding company, Apex Laboratories International, in a transaction that returned over six times its original investment. Apex was recapitalized by Alaris Royalty, a Canadian private investment firm, and Labstat management.  Huron’s 2006 investment in Labstat and Apex was made through its second fund, The Huron Fund II, a USD185,000,000 fund closed in 2005.  KPMG Corporate Finance advised Labstat on the transaction and Honigman, Miller, Schwartz and Cohn served as counsel. Based in Ontario, Labstat provides chemistry and toxicology testing services to global tobacco manufacturers for both regulatory and

Private equity firm Z Capital Partners has acquired a 24.97 per cent stake in Affinity Gaming, a casino operator with wholly-owned casino operations in Nevada, Missouri and Iowa, becoming its largest shareholder. "We have great respect for Affinity Gaming and its strong commitment to guests, employees, and partners," says James J. Zenni, president and chief executive officer of Z Capital. "This investment has been a two year process and we see significant potential for long-term growth at Affinity Gaming and look forward to supporting management’s efforts to lead the company into its next phase." "Z Capital has been a long-time

BV Investment Partners, a middle-market private equity firm, has sold its portfolio company Northstar Travel Media, to The Wicks Group of Companies. This is the fourth exit in 2012 for BV Investment Partners. Northstar is a business information and marketing solutions provider to the USD964bn global, travel, tourism, and meetings industries.  The Northstar assets include brands that have been serving the travel industry for over 30 years, including Travel Weekly, Meetings & Conventions, Travel Age West, Successful Meetings, Business Travel News, Incentive, Meeting News, and PhoCusWright. Andrew C. Davis (pictured), a managing director of BV, says: "Northstar’s superb management team

MVC Capital, a publicly traded business development company that makes private debt and equity investments, has closed the sale of SHL Group, a MVC portfolio company, to The Corporate Executive Board for USD660m in cash, subject to customary pre and post closing adjustments. SHL provides workplace talent assessment solutions, including ability and personality tests, and psychometric assessments. The fund first invested USD6.0m in PreVisor in 2006. In January of 2011, SHL acquired PreVisor and the fund received shares in SHL. With the closing of the transaction, the fund anticipates receiving net proceeds that closely approximate the current carrying value of

Eoxis acquired a portfolio of 20 MW solar photovoltaic projects in Italy from SunEdison between Q1 and Q2 2012. The portfolio includes four projects, which were connected by the end of 2011 and which are located in the regions of Puglia and Campania. The assets will be monitored, maintained and operated by SunEdison under long-term agreements.   In a parallel transaction, SunEdison, with Eoxis, closed the financing of two of the projects included in this portfolio through a EUR24.9m non-recourse, long-term senior debt facility with Centrobanca (UBI Banca Group).   This facility was partly guaranteed by SACE, the insurance and

Aureos Capital, a small and mid-cap private equity fund manager, has made an investment in Clinique Biasa, a private hospital and clinic providing medical services in Togo, West Africa. The investment has been made by the Africa Health Fund, which is managed by Aureos Capital. The fund’s objective is to enable low income Africans access to affordable, high quality health services while providing investors with strong long-term financial returns.   Aureos’ USD1.7m investment will enable Clinique Biasa to complete the financing of its modernisation and expansion plan which will cost approximately USD5m. This will in turn increase the range of